On the farm, Compost Day came twice a year and was an event unto itself. No matter the weather we dressed for the occasion in gumboots and little else. On that day we would turn out the main cow byre and create new 5 metre high compost heaps. Right next to them we would de-construct the old ones and cart them off to the growing fields to be lined up ready for use. It was our May Day and hazing all rolled into one, because no matter how careful you were come sun down, even the dogs would have a hard time smelling who you were. But with rounds of cold fresh cider to quench the days toil and a hearty meal, we laughed and sang and stank together, happy with our achievement and relieved that only in six months would we do it all over again.

This is great if you happen to be living on a working farm, but for the average gardener it is a little more complex but certainly no less enjoyable and useful.

The wonderful world of decomposition, nature's waste transformational system can be yours too, with a little healthy effort. There is one main reason to create and maintain a compost heap and that is humus or biomass content addition to your soil. You can never have too much biomass it engenders life in the most degraded of soils. With a few simple guidelines to have your own compost heap, down and decaying in a day.

It is not essential to make a compost container, but in a small garden it can help, if only with efficient use of space and ease of use in making and maintenance of your compost. Of the many one can buy or build my favourite is a loose or gaped, four walled wooden slat box with a soil base. One side of the box is made with removable slats for entry and exit, there are large gaps that allow plenty of air flow and the soil below helps get things going to begin with.

Whilst you can add almost anything organic to your compost there are a few things to avoid; cooked food or scraps which generally putrefy removing nutrients in the process and attract vermin; any wild plants that have gone to seed or you'll be weeding considerably more; anything that is diseased or infested will spread or even lie dormant and end up back in your garden; the roots of any wild plants that are invasive. Keep these things out of your compost and I guarantee you will be the happier for doing so.

Many would add wooden cuttings or branches to this list, why? Well because bark contains lignin and is mainly decomposed by fungal means rather than bacterial. This means it takes

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